Spreading Interactive Cities

Indeed, through six events from the North to the South of Italy, Genoa team brought Interactive Cities project around the country, making possible for other Italian cities to discover the project goals and challenges as well as the URBACT programme opportunities.

These events, part of the programme of activities led by ANCI (National Association of Italian Municipalities), in its role of URBACT National Contact Point, were a useful moment to better know URBACT programme and methodology; and to discover Interactive Cities and its peculiar aim, connected to digital and social media communication by public administration.

A first, very important moment of dissemination of the programme was during the annual ANCI National Assembly in Bari (14 October):  the Italian Republic President (Sergio Mattarella), the Italian Ministers (e.g. Angelino Alfano, Italian Home Officer and Andrea Orlando, Italian Justice Officer) as well as Mayors from important Italian cities were present in sharing common prospective on cities development. In this occasion Marco Doria - Genoa´s Mayor had the chance to illustrate Interactive Cities, and the meaning of the URBACT participation based methodology, as an effective way to build shared strategies and reach measurable objectives, and to effectively work with the local stakeholders, involved in the URBACT Local Groups.

During the Sicilian URBACT Regional Table (17 November), the National URBACT day in Rome (14 December) and the URBACTIII Liguria Regional Table in Genoa (16 December), it was possible to bring Interactive Cities as a project example to all municipalities and local stakeholders interested in improving solutions to renovate and foster their communication with the citizens, building innovative strategies able to reach a wider audience, and to properly take advantage by channels, as the social media, where it is normal to practice dialogue, opinions exchange, bidirectional communication and the chance to express ideas and directly experienced impressions.

Furthermore, Interactive Cities project had the chance to be presented to a wider audience of Italian stakeholders, for example the Architects and Urbanists met during the EU1 URBACT in Ferrara (28 October). This special event organised to show to professionals how to improve urban development, through the way of working that Italian cities are applying thanks to the URBACT method.

Additionally, Urbanpromo in Milan (9 November), the cultural event of reference on the theme of urban regeneration which aims at achieving sustainable urban development, was the greatest arena to show to other cities and to all interested people on the topic, the experienced gained by Interactive Cities project partners until now.

The events underlined the necessity to have useful resources able to improve opportunities given, for example, to Interactive Cities participants by URBACT, to ameliorate the urban management of the European cities.

The project has been presented to a wide range of audience: during the events, it was underlined the necessity to encourage cities, which are dealing with societal an environmental challenges on urban development, to find innovative sustainable solutions, like URBACT Interactive Cities partnership has done.

The institutional participants from regional and municipal sectors highlighted the necessity of projects able to take into account sustainable urban development, showing the need to capitalize projects as sharing knowledge, creating synergies among cities at national, local and international level, as the URBACT networks, and designing urban models and excellence able to be exported around Europe.

Elisabetta Savino